An Unconventional Future
by AliciaMarieL
Summary: 2 years after the gang splits up and all ties are broken, a mystery brings them back into each other's lives. Whether they like it or not, things may become permanent. Rated M- Some addiction, love, whatever.
1. Chapter 1

**_None of these Scooby characters are mine. They are a creation of Hanna Barbara._**

**_I'm just using them for my sick and messed up stories.  
Also, I'm using some of the stuff the movies and cartoons all had, but some stuff is majorly different._**

It never was a secret, not really. People grew up, people grew apart. No one was shocked when Mystery Inc separated shortly after college.

Of course, after the end of Mystery Inc, the friends drifted. No longer were Fred and Daphne a thing. Instead, they got in more and more fights before their relationship ended in a fit of anger and hatred.

* * *

And that was when Daphne fled town. She left, taking any money her parents had put aside for her after college. She left, breaking all ties with her parents and sisters.

Her hands were trembling as she lit the cigarette. She slammed her hand against the steering wheel in frustration. She hated Fred Jones. This was his fault! It was his baby, why was she stuck living out of a one bedroom shabby apartment so she could raise the baby properly?

She had already lost all of her parents' money. She needed a car, she needed a place to live. She had to pay rent, buy food, buy things for Lyra. It also didn't help that she only had a job as a waitress.

At least her elderly neighbour Linda watched Lyra for free while Daphne worked. And because of Linda's help, she was looking for a second job. Maybe working two jobs would be easier for her and Lyra.

Linda had explained that everything would get better, everything always did. She also said that once Lyra was a little older, it would be easier. Linda could talk for hours about how expensive a baby was.

Daphne continued to drive once the light changed. Throwing her finished cigarette out the window and spotted the address she was looking for. After finding a parking spot, she touched up her makeup and fixed her hair.

She walked into the diner, towards the lone man behind the counter.

"Hi, beautiful. Can I help you?" The man asked, smiling.

"Oh, I'm sure you could." Daphne replied, smiling. "I'm looking for a Jack Prester."

"He's in the back. I'll take you to him." The man said. "Here for the interview?"

Daphne nodded, following him.

"I'm Mason." He said. "And you?"

"Daphne."

Mason opened a door. "Hey, boss, you've got someone here to see you."

Jack Prester stood. "Thanks, Mason."

Mason left and Jack held out his hand.

"Jack Prester. And to what do I owe this pleasure?" Jack asked.

"I'm Daphne Blake, I found your ad for a-"

"Waitress, yes." Jack said. "Please have a seat."  
**So, this is a scene change here- I didn't want to use one of the lines because I want to use those for character changes. Continue on.**

"You what?" Linda asked.

"I got a second job." Daphne said.

"Daphne, have you ever thought of going back to-?"

"No." Daphne said, dropping her gaze. "I can't, not after how we left things."

"He was your friend before your lover." Linda said. "They were all your friends. Friends don't just stop being friends."

"Trust me, we did." Daphne said.

"Daphne."

"Linda, I'll manage. You're the only friend I need." Daphne said, reaching for Linda's hand.

"Daphne, dear. You're too young for two jobs."

"Linda, I'm 21 and I already have a baby. I may be young, but I have responsibilities."

* * *

Velma placed the files on the shelves. It was a slow day, and her boss left the office early. He said as soon as she finished organizing the rest of the files, she could go home.

She never imagined being a secretary for a lawyer. She wanted to be a lawyer. She was never sure where that dream had vanished.

Velma wasn't even sure when she had settled for being a secretary. It was an easy job, the pay was very good- really, she had an easy life.

She looked toward her desk. She still had the picture of the gang on her desk. It was their high school graduation photo, and she always felt sad remembering the good days.

The last time she had talked to anyone in the gang had been about a year- a few months after the gang fought and ended. The next thing she knew, Daphne had left town and Shaggy had taken to drinking. She occasionally saw Fred around town when he was walking home or at the store. He looked like he was all right, but she knew the break up between him and Daphne had shattered him.

As she placed the last file on the shelf, the phone rang. The loud ringing in the silent office made her jump. She returned to her desk, picking up the phone.

"Hello, office of Hayden Spencer- Attorney. May I help you?" She asked.

"Velma?" A voice asked.

"May I help you?"

"It's me, it's Fred."

"Oh. Hi." Velma said. "Can I help you?"

"Can you meet me?"

"Why?"

"I have a question. Or, more of an offer. Whichever you'd like to call it." Fred said. "Can you meet me around 6 at that little diner we went to when we were kids?"

"Yeah, fine." Velma said, hanging up.

She sighed.

* * *

Fred turned his truck out of the driveway of his work. After college, he never imagined he'd work in an autoshop. Working on cars was never something he imagined himself doing.

It was good work, really. It took a lot of focus. He enjoyed the job, but at the same time, he wished he had gone into being a detective. He just never got around to doing it.

He parked his truck outside his apartment. Stopping only to grab his mail, he walked the stairs to his apartment. He dropped the mail on his coffee table and took a quick shower.

It wasn't until he sat down with his dinner(or poor excuse for one, anyway- it was a frozen tray) that he picked up his mail. He tossed the bills aside, he never looked at those until the end of the month, and came across the blank envelope.

He flipped it over, looking for writing. He opened it, expecting a flyer about some fundraising. He unfolded the paper.

_Jones,_

_I never knew you to leave unfinished business. Perhaps there was more involved in that break up than you believed. Perhaps, another person. Perhaps the break up wasn't enough. Perhaps the demise of the gang members will be enough._

_Where are your friends? Have you spoken to them recently?_

_Perhaps you should._

_-D.L_

Fred frowned. Why would it matter what the break up involved? What did it matter if none of them spoke to each other?

Still, Fred had a nagging feeling. He grabbed his phone and dialed the only number he knew of.

* * *

Shaggy was snoring on the couch. Scooby lay by the door with his head on his paws. He hated the smell of the alcohol, he hated the memories Shaggy sobbed about.

In some ways, it was good. Scooby maintained a little hope that things would go back to the old days. When Shaggy didn't drink, when Daphne was no longer a 'missing person' poster her parents had put up everywhere... when Fred was happy.

Scooby would walk around town, and he'd see them all(except Daphne, no one saw her anymore) and he even visited with Velma and Fred. No one ever paid any attention to the dog that once was part of the famous Mystery Inc, they continued on their day while they passed him by. Occasionally, children would toss food at him(everyone knew of the great appetite he had).

Everything had gone downhill. Daily, Scooby watched Shaggy wake up at noon and stagger around the house for an hour before passing out drunk again. Sometimes Shaggy's parents would visit. His mother would clean up, his father would try and talk to Shaggy about the drinking.

It always led to a fight. And Scooby was sure that was the knocking at the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**_None of these Scooby characters are mine. They are a creation of Hanna Barbara._**

**_I'm just using them for my sick and messed up stories.  
Also, I'm using some of the stuff the movies and cartoons all had, but some stuff is majorly different._**

**ALSO, LITTLE NOTE!**  
**The posters Scooby's little section has are things placed by her parents wanting anyone to come forward with any information regarding where their daughter vanished off to- no, they don't think she's dead. They know she fled and they want to know why and where to. No, they do not know of Lyra. No one does. Duh duh DUH /drama/**

"Well, I'm not going to lie. I didn't think you'd actually come by." Fred said when Velma sat down.

"You asked me to." Velma said. "So, what's this question or offer you have?"

"It's actually more of a favor I need." Fred said. "I got this letter, and-"

"No."

"What? You didn't let me finish!" Fred said, holding the letter.

"And I won't. Any unknown letter is a bad thing, Fred Jones! We decided this. No more mysteries." Velma said, standing.

"What if it involves possibly dying?" Fred asked.

"Are you threatening me?"

"No!" Fred said. "Just, read the letter. Please. Just humor me, Velma."

Velma sat down and took the letter. She read it over a few times, not saying anything.

"So, it's some lunatic thinking they know what happened." Velma said. "They don't know why you two broke up, they don't know what happened in the gang-"

"But do we know? Do we truly know what the fights were?" Fred asked.

"Well, they were about-" Velma broke off. "What were they about? I only remember it going from us friends one day and then we never wanted to see each other again."

"Exactly."

"Someone must have wanted it." Velma said.

"So?"

Velma looked at Fred, half smiling. "We have a mystery on our hands."

* * *

They knocked at the door of the run down house. After a few seconds, the doggy-door moved. They looked down to Scooby sticking his head out.

"Hey, Scoob." Velma said. "Is Shaggy here?"

"Ruh-huh." Scooby said. "Roor's ropen."

Scooby pulled his head back in and Velma slowly turned the knob. As they stepped in, their eyes widened. Shaggy was passed out on the couch, beer bottles littered. There were a few bottles of other stuff, and the house looked poorly cared for.

Scooby was shaking Shaggy, who pushed him off and sat up slowly. Upon seeing Fred and Velma, he stopped.

"What do you want?' He growled.

"Well, umm, we-" Velma stuttered.

"We need your help." Fred interjected.

"Yes." Velma said. "Fred got a letter, and-"

"I don't care." Shaggy said. "I don't care if you were to die tomorrow or if someone was going to burn your house down. I don't care that you got a letter. I stopped caring months ago."

"No, Shaggy, you don't understand-" Velma said.

"Don't tell me what I understand and what I don't." Shaggy snapped, standing and pointing a shaky finger at them. "I understand what foul people you are-"

"Someone wants us dead!" Velma said. "And you know no one's heard from Daphne in almost a year. She could be dead, any of us could be next."

"She ain't dead." Shaggy said. "Wanna know how I know? I know where she went."

"Shaggy, we need your help. And you may need ours." Fred said. "Think about it, what was the fight about?"

Shaggy looked at them, his eyes fillinf with realization. "I don't know." He finally said.

"None of us do." Fred said.

"We think someone wanted us apart." Velma said.

"Roo?" Scooby asked.

"We don't know, but we need help finding out." Fred said. "So, Shaggy?"

"I won't be any help." he mumbled.

"Yes, yes, you will!" Velma said. "Please."

"One condition." Shaggy said. "You friggin help me."

"With what?" Velma asked.

Shaggy gestured around him. "I'm a mess. My father tried, I didn't want to listen. I need you guys."

"We all need each other." Velma said, hugging Shaggy.

"How about this, Shaggy- you come with us, we can get you help from a dcotor or anywhere you want. We'll all stay back in headquarters. We'll help you, we'll find Daphne as well. Then we find out who sent the letter. One thing at a time." Fred said.

Shaggy nodded as Fred hugged him.

* * *

"Wow, it's quiet tonight." Daphne said, leaning against the counter. She had only been working the second job for about a week now, and she felt quite happy with it.

"Usually is." Mason said. "That's why I like the day shifts."

"Yep. Although, the drinkers from the bar down the road do tip quite nice." Daphne said.

"Oh yes, they do. A few months ago, I gave one of them a cup of water and a sandwich, he gave me $10." Mason said, laughing. "Of course, if I had breasts, it probably would have been double that."

"Breasts would suit you." Daphne said, laughing. "Quite nicely."

"So, I've been trying to figure your age for a while. Didn't want to offend you by asking." Mason said.

"Why don't you try to guess?" She asked.

"It's hard to. I've known a few redheads in my life, they were all older than I thought." Mason said.

"Oh?"

"But you, you don't even look of legal age." Mason said. "Maybe just graduated high school at most-"

"Try college. I'm almost 22, Mason." Daphne said.

"So, what brings you here?" Mason asked. "A pretty young thing who looks like she's only seen a big city on TV."

"Well, I grew up in a small town. Always surrounded by the same people. We all even went to college together. I guess something just never sat right. So, we all drifted off our own ways. I ended up here." Daphne said.

"No special boys snatched you up?" Mason asked, winking. Daphne's face dropped, and she shook her head. "Shame. If I knew you longer, I'd snatch you up."


	3. Chapter 3

**_None of these Scooby characters are mine. They are a creation of Hanna Barbara._**

**_I'm just using them for my sick and messed up stories.  
Also, I'm using some of the stuff the movies and cartoons all had, but some stuff is majorly different._**

_**HERE'S THE DEAL. I GRABBED THE DRINKING THING WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT THE AFTERMATH. So, we're going to jump 2 months forward and let's bypass the whole "shaggy gets Sober deal"..?  
Psh also, math wise, I'm saying it's now been almost 2 years since they stopped talking- in CH1 it was close to a year and now it's a couple months later... so I'm saying it's been almost 16 months(which means I'm just gonna say Lyra's 9 months old- we'll say Daphne was 3 months when she took off)**_

The last nine weeks had been great. Shaggy had gone two weeks without even talking of alcohol(a few set backs, as expected) and they were actually making it somewhere on locating where Daphne had gone. The only hitch in the road had been the delivery of a letter similar to the first.

_Jones,  
Well, you've got most of them back. You're still missing the pretty little redhead, aren't you? Better find that unfinished business before I finish it for you.  
D.L_

"Of course, I've got about 100 Blakes across the country right now." Velma said, scrolling through the list. "Only about 24 of them have a name starting with a D."

"How many are in New York?" Shaggy asked.

"10 in the entire state, 4 in the city." Velma said. "And no one has their full first name listed."

"So, what should we do?" Fred asked. "Shaggy, you're positive it was New York?"

"Positive. Remember how much she talked about it?" Shaggy asked.

"I think we should go." Velma said.

"What if it isn't New York, though?" Fred asked.

"I'll bring all the information for all 24 of these names. We'll go across country if we have to." Velma said.

* * *

"Linda, I know I told you I wasn't working tonight, but Nina called in sick-" Daphne said into the phone.

"Bring Lyra over, dear." Linda said.

"Oh thank you, Linda!"

Daphne hurried to get ready for work and picked up 9 month old Lyra. After dropping her off with Linda, she rushed to work. Luckily, both work places were less than 3 blocks away from her apartment. It was good for her in some ways, her car had given up about two weeks before.

She rushed into the diner, knowing Saturday nights were always the busiest and Mason would be by himself handling tables of drunk fools.

"Daphne! You're not working today!" Mason said.

"Oh yes, I am. Nina's got food poisoning." Daphne said, grabbing her notepad and apron. "Usual split?"

Mason nodded. "Thanks."

The usual split they used when working together was that Mason took the five tables on the left side of the diner while Daphne took the five on the right. Although it was a small diner, it was amazing how many drunks would pack themselves at one table.

Finally, in the early hours of the morning, the crowded diner became quiet again.

"So, that's a Saturday night here." Daphne said.

"And now you know why I hate the whole 24 hour thing here." Mason said. "Thank God I have tomorrow off. What about you?"

"Supposed to work at Rosco's, but not until evening." Daphne said. "Jack's letting me miss my morning shift here since I took Nina's, he said he'll find someone."

"Why don't you head off?" Mason offered. "I'll handle everything else."

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure. Jack won't mind. If there's a couple of us working, we can send one home if the place is empty." Mason said.

"Are you sure?" Daphne asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you Monday."

"See you Monday, Mason." Daphne said. She hung her apron up and grabbed her purse and jacket.

As she left, she waved at Mason through the window. She got about a block towards home when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Excuse me, Ma'am?"

She jumped and shrieked.

"I'm sorry!" Fred said. "I didn't mean to scare you- we just saw you leaving and- Daphne?"

"Oh my God." Daphne said, looking at the others. "You have to leave." She said, turning and walking towards home.

"Daph, wait!" Fred said, following her. "Please, let's just talk!"

"Talk?" She asked. "Really? Just a talk? The last time we talked, you called me a whore!"

"Daph, that's what this is about-"

"I'll give you 5 minutes." She took a paper and pen out of her bag. "This is my address. Noon tomorrow. I'll give you 5 minutes to explain your pathetic behavior."

* * *

Fred knocked right before noon. Velma, Shaggy and Scooby stood behind him. The door opened and Daphne gestured them inside.

She sat on an armchair and pointed to the couch.

"What do you guys want?" She asked.

"Daphne, we've been getting letters." Velma said. "From someone who keeps saying stuff about our demise and unfinished business."

"That's not my problem." Daphne said.

"Well, it kind of is." Fred said.

"Oh? Kind of like everything else?" Daphne snapped.

"No. They kept mentioning our break up, saying there was unfinished business and how there was another person and everything." Fred explained.

Daphne leaned forward. "Is this the same person who told you about 'Tom'?" Daphne demanded. 'Tom' had been a made up person who had circulated the rumor mill, claiming a relationship with Daphne. Of course, the origin of that rumour had never been found.

"Daphne, this is serious!" Fred snapped.

"Don't raise your voice." Daphne demanded. "Or this talk is over."

"Daph, please listen to us." Velma said. "We can show you the letters-"

"Does this person have a name?" She asked. "The one who's writing?"

"No. They go by D.L." Shaggy said.

"So, you come and track me down for something that could easily be a silly little prank?" Daphne asked.

"Daphne, I know you're angry- but I don't know what about. Think back-"

"Think back? You're telling me to remember what happened between us?" Daphne yelled. "Are you joking?"

"There was nothing!" Fred said. "All of us realised it! Why won't you?"

There was a sound from the other room. A child's cry. Daphne's eyes widened for a second before she disappeared from the room.

The rest of the gang looked at each other.

"Fred, maybe she's babysitting." Velma offered when Fred became pale.

"...another person..." Fred muttered. "Oh God."


	4. Chapter 4

**_None of these Scooby characters are mine. They are a creation of Hanna Barbara._**

**_I'm just using them for my sick and messed up stories.  
Also, I'm using some of the stuff the movies and cartoons all had, but some stuff is majorly different._**

"You said you had food poisoning." Fred said, standing in the doorway.

"What?" Daphne asked, turning around.

"Before we broke up. You claimed to have food poisoning." Fred said.

"I did-"

"So, it's just a coincidence you're holding a baby girl who's very blonde and looks almost a year old?" Fred asked.

"She's not a year old-"

"Looks very close to." Fred said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Daphne asked.

"About her!" Fred said.

"Why would I have to?" Daphne asked, shifting Lyra in her arms.

"Daphne, I'm not stupid."

"Never said you were." Daphne said.

"So, is she?"

"What? Stupid?" Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, is she mine?"

Daphne shrugged. "Why should it matter?"

"Daph. If she's mine, I'd like to help." Fred said. "Plus, the blonde hair really says something."

Daphne shrugged.

"Daphne, do they know? Your parents?"

"God no. Daddy would have killed you."

"So you admit it."

"I didn't admit anything!"

"Why would your father have killed me if she wasn't mine?" Fred asked, crossing his arms and leaning on the doorway.

"I was scared, Fred. We were fighting so much, I thought I did have food poisoning or something! I didn't really know until after we had already broken up." Daphne said.

"Daph, it would have changed everything."

"But how do we know? For all we know, it would have gotten worse!" Daphne said.

"Daph, come back to the living room. Let's all talk, Velma and I figured something out." Fred said.

* * *

"So, that's why you vanished?" Velma asked.

"Part of it, actually." Daphne said. "Not the whole reason. Daddy would have lost it, you guys know how he was when he caught me kissing Fred! Anyways, that's not the point. You guys said something happened-"

"Yeah, some person is sending letters to us." Fred said.

"How do you know it's not just some prank?" Daphne asked.

"Well, at first I thought it was. Something just didn't sit right, so I called Velma and we met up. She agreed something was weird." Fred said. "And going by D.L, that's-"

"The same initials of that Danica girl." Velma said.

"Think she's mad about us calling her out?" Daphne asked. "Last I heard, she had moved up to Canada with a husband."

"But, we did ruin her plan." Velma said.

"I don't know. She's my cousin, I'm sure she knows we were just doing what we did best." Daphne said.

"Have you guys kept in touch?" Fred asked.

"No, actually." Daphne said. "Last time we talked was a few months ago."

"We got the first letter a couple months ago." Fred said.

Daphne looked at her watch. "Listen, this is all fine and everything, but I need to get to work. I work tomorrow morning as well, we can talk more tomorrow afternoon if you want." She said. "Umm, usually my neighbour watches Lyra, but if you want, you can spend the afternoon with her." She offered Fred.

"I would love to." Fred said. "We're going to check out some sights, mind if I take her?"

"Of course. Stroller's in the hall closet." Daphne said. "There's a spare key under the hall plant outside the door if you guys want to come back later."

* * *

"Linda, calm down." Daphne said. "What's going on?"

"There's someone in your apartment-"

"It's okay, I told you, Fred's with Lyra- it could just be him and the others-"

"No, it's someone else! Some dark haired guy- he said he's your friend Mason or something."

"Mason is my friend, Linda." Daphne said. "I'm on my way home now, got off early. He's probably just coming to say hi or something."

"I can call the cops or something-"

"It's fine, Linda. Thank you for letting me know." Daphne said.

Daphne continued the small walk home, checking her text messages. Fred had texted her a couple times, asking about Lyra's various needs. Most of them were that Lyra was fussy, and Daphne expected that and told him she was teething and to give her an ice cube or something cold.

She unlocked her door, reading the final message from Fred saying they'd be back in about half an hour, they were on their way from a library Velma was interested in.

As soon as she opened her door, she was pulled in and the door slammed behind her. Mason held his hand over her mouth, and was holding a knife.

"I fucking told them. Warned them. Did they listen? Nah." Mason said. "Fucking said this shit would happen, he should've finished this a long time ago-"

Daphne pushed him back.

"What the fuck, Mason?"

"Don't fucking speak, you bitch." Mason said, grabbing her hair and throwing her to the ground. "Fucking warned you all!"

_**PSST- BE CAREFUL DURING THE NEXT CHAPTER. There's gonna be some very adult content.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**_None of these Scooby characters are mine. They are a creation of Hanna Barbara._**

**_I'm just using them for my sick and messed up stories.  
Also, I'm using some of the stuff the movies and cartoons all had, but some stuff is majorly different._**

_**PSST- BE CAREFUL DURING THE NEXT CHAPTER. There's gonna be some very adult content.**_

"Mason, what are you talking about?" Daphne asked, pulling herself to her feet.

Mason grabbed her arm and pointed the knife at her.

"Fucking ruined my life is what you did. All of you." He said. "It's my turn."

"Mason,-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Mason said, shoving her against a wall. "It's my turn! My turn to fuck everything up for you all!"

"Mason, calm down- what are you talking about?" Daphne asked.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do! You're gonna listen to me. I'll fucking kill you if you scream. I'll fucking kill your kid."

"Mason-"

"I said shut up!" Mason yelled.

Daphne trembled against the wall. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

"Who is it?" Mason demanded. "Who the fuck is it?"

"I don't know-"

Mason reached in her pocket and grabbed the phone. "Text him back, tell him to stay away." Mason demanded, shoving the phone into her hand. She was frozen in shock.

"Do it!" Mason yelled.

Daphne quickly typed the message and Mason snatched the phone back to hit send. Daphne prayed that Fred would find the message odd- after all, she wasn't one to spell any words wrong. But Mason didn't know that, and had hit send with every word spelled purposefully wrong.

"Now here's the deal." Mason said. "You're going to do as I say, or I'm going to make your life Hell."

Daphne nodded, shaking.

"We're going to go into the kid's room. You're going to put her stuff in a bag. You're going to tell the guy to bring her back, but you won't let him in. You'll take the kid and send him and his friends away. You and I are going somewhere." Mason said.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Daphne said.

"You don't have a choice." Mason said, shoving her against the wall and pressing the knife to her throat. "It's kind of like how my father didn't have a choice."

"Your father?"

"Don't play stupid, you bitch." Mason said. "You know him. He tried to finish you guys, but you got him arrested."

"What-"

"Don't act stupid! Greenway! You had him arrested!"

Daphne's mouth dropped.

"Greenway? The Snow Ghost?" She asked.

"See, now we're getting somewhere. I'm finishing the job for him." Mason said. "Now, move."

"No."

Mason pressed the blade against her throat. "That wasn't an option."

"I'll scream- my neighbour will call the cops."

"Scream and you're dead."

Daphne tried to shove him away but he grabbed her and threw her onto the ground.

"I fucking told you!" He said, hitting her. His hands closed around her throat and she tried shoving him off. "I fucking warned you! You know what happens to pretty little things who don't listen?"

He grabbed the knife and pressed it to her cheek, one hand around her throat. She grabbed his arm trying to push it away.

"Please, let go-" She croaked.

"Oh no, I'm just getting started." Mason said, fixing his hold on the knife.

* * *

Fred flipped his phone open. It took him a few seconds to read the message. Compared to the others, it looked as if she had typed without even looking. Ignoring the message, he put the van into drive and continued towards the apartment.

It still felt weird to be driving the van after so many months, but it was only fitting to. Velma was sitting in the back with Lyra and Scooby, while Shaggy was looking through the file of newspaper clippings they had gathered through the day.

From the outside, the apartment looked quiet. Fred pulled over on the road, and they all stepped out. Velma took Lyra from the carseat and they approached the apartment.

"There's so many people who could potentially be mad at us." Shaggy said, closing the folder. "I mean, we did a lot of mysteries."

"But how many know where we moved to?" Fred asked.

"It's a small town, Fred, every knows where everyone lives. The fact they knew about Daphne's place was a little more weird." Velma said. "And that they knew about this one." She added, gesturing to the sleeping Lyra in Velma's arms. "So it has to be someone from one of our later mysteries. Probably one of the last few."

"It's not going to be fun trying to figure this one out." Fred muttered.

Fred knocked first, but there was no answer. He grabbed the key from under the plant and opened the door. The first thing in sight was writing across the wall.

_I warned you._


	6. Chapter 6

**_None of these Scooby characters are mine. They are a creation of Hanna Barbara._**

**_I'm just using them for my sick and messed up stories.  
Also, I'm using some of the stuff the movies and cartoons all had, but some stuff is majorly different._**

_**PSST- BE CAREFUL DURING THE NEXT CHAPTER. There's gonna be some very adult content.**_

"Daphne?" Fred called. The apartment was a bit of a mess, with a lamp overturned. The pictures that were on the walls had fallen and broken, leaving broken glass by the couch.

Daphne's phone was laying on the ground by the kitchen door and her purse was thrown by the couch. They stepped into the apartment and caught sight of blood on the kitchen floor.

Fred continued on into the kitchen, Scooby behind him.

"Daph?"

"Redroom." Scooby said, shoving the door open wider.

Fred entered the bedroom, which looked similar to the living room. "Daph?" He called.

There was a muffled sound from the closet, and Fred threw open the door. Daphne was bound and gagged, her clothes ripped and bloodied. She was pale and trembling, her face streaked with tears. There was a cut across her cheek, and a deeper wound on her shoulder.

"What happened?" Fred asked, dropping next to her and untying the scarf from her mouth. Her eyes were half closed, and she slouched against Fred when he lifted her.

"Daph?"

"Mmm."

"Can you hear me?" Fred asked, laying her on the bed. "Daph?" He untied her hands and could feel her trembling.

Scooby had left the room and a second later, Velma appeared. She was still clutching Lyra, who was becoming fussy.

"Oh my God! What happened?" Velma asked.

"I don't know, she won't respond." Fred said.

"Is she breathing?"

"Daph, who did this?" Fred asked, after noticing a cut across her stomach.

"M-mm-"

"Daph, you're going to be okay. Did you see who it was?" Fred asked.

Daphne looked like she was trying to focus on Fred. She was trembling, her voice came out in an inaudible sound.

"Who?"

"Mason-"

"Mason who?"

"Greenway's kid-"

"Greenway?" Fred asked. Then he remembered. "Daphne, come on, we're going to the hospital."

"No-"

"You're injured!"

"Not bad-"

"You're bleeding, come on." Fred lifted her and walked into the living room.

"Should we call the cops?" Shaggy asked.

"No-" Daphne cried. "He'll kill her!"

"Who?" Fred asked, stopping by the couch.

"He wanted Lyra- wanted us to suffer like he did-"

"Daph, Velma has Lyra- she's safe."

"No cops." Daphne begged. "No hospital-"

"You're bleeding terribly-" Fred interjected.

"Please, Freddie." Daphne said. "Let's just leave-"

Velma handed Lyra to Shaggy. "Daphne, I'm grabbing any clothes and anything of yours and Lyra's. We're going back to Coolsville."

"Daph, we're taking you to a doctor as well." Fred said, placing her on the couch. "I'm going to help Velma."

"No hospitals!" Daphne begged.

Shaggy sat on the arm chair by the couch.

"Why no hospitals?" Shaggy asked.

"He'll find out- the cuts aren't bad- he'll find a way to take Lyra." Daphne said.

"We're still going!" Fred called from the next room. He appeared with a few bags of Lyra's belongings. "I'm taking this stuff to the van, then coming back for you."

About half an hour later, Lyra was in her carseat, Daphne was curled up in a blanket in the back seat with Velma and the back had bags of Daphne and Lyra's belongings. Shaggy and Fred were in the front, talking about Greenway. Linda had agreed to pack up any thing left behind for Fred to come back and grab.

Around midnight, they were barely half way back to Coolsville and stopped by a motel along the highway.

* * *

Fred and Daphne were sitting on the little couch in the motel room, a first aid kit between them. Velma and Shaggy had fallen asleep a while ago in the beds(Velma and Daphne were going to share while Fred used the sofa- his insistence). Lyra had fallen asleep in her little folding baby cot that Fred grabbed from the room before they left, and Scooby was stretched in front of the door. Fred was cleaning the cuts on Daphne, who was still holding to her insistence of no hospital.

"Daph, we should get these checked out." Fred said. "Especially this shoulder one."

"It's fine- he didn't cut very deep-"

Fred wrapped the gauze around her shoulder. "Why are you so stubborn?" He asked, fixing her tank top strap. She had changed into new clothes when they'd arrived and her ruined clothes had been thrown away. Fred had already cleaned and bandaged the cut along her stomach, which had resulted in a slightly awkward moment between the two.

"Fred, trust me on this, please. He'll know. We just have get to Coolsville, find out exactly what's going on. We don't know that Mason is D.L, but once we find out if he is or if they work together, we can move forward as if it's a normal mystery." Daphne said.

"Daphne, trust _me._" Fred said. "We should get you looked at."

"No. If the cops get involved, Mason said he'll get more violent. He wants us to handle this without cops." Daphne explained.

"What, so he can murder us?" Fred asked.

Daphne sighed. "Fred, let's just get back to Coolsville and go from there."

"Fine." Fred said. "Can I ask something?"

"Sure."

"When exactly was Lyra born?"

"Last June."

"So, she is almost a year old."

"Not quite." Daphne said. "Not for a couple more months yet."

"When did you find out?" Fred asked.

"Two weeks after our breakup."

At some point in the conversation, Daphne ended up leaning against Fred. They ended up dozing off after talking for hours about Lyra and the strange problems that only surfaced close to their break up.


	7. Chapter 7

**_None of these Scooby characters are mine. They are a creation of Hanna Barbara._**

**_I'm just using them for my sick and messed up stories.  
Also, I'm using some of the stuff the movies and cartoons all had, but some stuff is majorly different._**

_**PSST- wow this story is actually just flowing from my brain. Woot. **_

The next morning, Fred woke up before anyone else. He realised Daphne was still leaning against him, and his heart leaped. The day before hadn't been a dream.

He had a daughter he never knew about, he had reconnected with Daphne and she was going back to Coolsville with him.

The gang was back together, even if it did happen to be because some guy was upset about his father's arrest. Sure, Shaggy was still having problems because of the drinking and Daphne may have been in a bad mood at first, but they were still all the same deep down.

They were still a family. Something about this whole situation felt like it was meant to happen.

* * *

It was getting close to noon, and the gang had been on the road for over an hour. Daphne was in the back seat with Lyra again, who had fallen soundly asleep after the morning feeding.

"I hope you realise my parents may not be so nice if they find out I'm back." Daphne said. "They'll be mad enough at me, but they'll find a way to blame you too."

"Yeah, I know. Your mother can get pretty mad."

"I'm more worried about my father."

"Wouldn't your parents be happy to at least know you're alive?" Velma asked.

"Initially, they might." Daphne said. "But if they find out I hid their grandchild from them, they'll be more angry than anything. Then they'll cool down, and get angry again."

"Well, you'll still have your sisters." Shaggy said. "They were distraught when you left."

"Yes, well, they're dramatic." Daphne said. "Especially Dawn."

* * *

It was close to dark when they pulled into the driveway of headquarters.

"We were staying here before we found you." Fred said. "We thought it'd be easier to keep a tab on everyone this way."

A car pulled into the driveway behind them, and one of Daphne's sisters jumped out.

"I saw the van, I was hoping I could talk to you!" Dawn said, running to the window. "I got a letter- it had no name- they said Daphne's dead!" She cried to Fred.

"Dawn-" Daphne interrupted.

"Fred- we need to find her-"

"Dawn, liste-" Daphne said.

"I don't know where she could be-"

"I'm right here-" Daphne added.

"What if this person was right-?"

"DAWN!" Daphne finally yelled. "I'm right here!"

Dawn looked at Daphne. "Oh my God, Daphne! Where the Hell did you go?"

Daphne climbed out of the van and into her sister's arms. "I can't explain that right now, do you have that letter?"

"Well, yes, but do you know what the family went through? Mom and Dad have been fighting, Mom's so sure Daddy knew where you were. Delilah's been in and out of town, she barely talks to us when she's home! Why did you leave?"

"Let's go inside." Fred offered.

"I'll explain inside." Daphne said, grabbing Dawn's arm. Fred followed with Lyra and the others, and Daphne had led Dawn to the small kitchen's table.

"Dawn, you can't upset with me, okay?" She asked.

"Well, why would I?" Dawn asked. "Who's the little one?" She asked, catching sight of Lyra. Her eyes widened suddenly. "She looks like him. Daphne,-"

"She's my daughter." Daphne said.

"She's what?" Dawn asked. "Is that why you left? Daddy's going to be absolutely angry!"

"He's not going to know. You can't tell him. You can't tell anyone! You have to let me!" Daphne said.

"I can't just pretend I never saw her!"

"Dawn, listen." Fred said. "Don't tell anyone Daphne's here, we've got a problem that we need to handle first-"

"But our parents- our family has gone through Hell!" Dawn cried.

"We all have." Daphne said. "Dawn, I'll explain everything to you if you promise not to tell a soul."

Dawn looked at the gang and then at Lyra. "Fine." She finally said.

When Daphne finally finished, Dawn was silent.

"That's who wrote the letter." Dawn said.

"Who? D.L?" Velma asked.

Dawn nodded. She pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Velma.

_Dawn,_

_Well, you're very much like her. It'd be a shame if you were the next sister to their grave._

_-D.L_

"Dawn, we think we know who this person is." Daphne said. "And we're going to figure this out, but in the meantime, act like you never saw me."

"How exactly are you planning to hide from everyone? This is a very small town." Dawn said. "I mean, Delilah's the only one of us with long hair now- people might think you're her."

"We'll let them." Velma said.

"What happens when Delilah comes home next month for her leave?" Dawn asked.

"We'll have it figured out by then." Daphne said. "I'm planning on staying, it's just for now that I don't want anyone to know."

"So, are you going to keep hiding my niece as well?" Dawn asked.

"Only until this is all over." Daphne said. "Please. Don't tell anyone."

Dawn nodded. "Okay. I won't, but I'm going to want to catch up with you." She said. "I'm going to want to visit you and her."

"And that's fine."

* * *

That night was quiet. They all went to bed early, planning to start looking at the letters the next morning.

Daphne stared at the ceiling. It had been 3 years since she had a spent a night at headquarters. They had moved out permanently when college started, planning to move back in after. Of course, that never happened.

She heard a window break downstairs and jumped. She heard footsteps in the hall, and walked out of her room to find Fred heading downstairs. She walked towards the top of the stairs and there was a loud smash from behind her.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Dear readers,**_

_**I'm sorry this isn't an update! I'm posting this to let you know I am starting my final year of school in 2 days(Sept 3rd) which means I'm busy preparing for it. **_

_**I promise to update all of these stories as soon as I can! The first week of school is always hectic(especially for Grade 12- and I have a few lower grade courses to get into as well) so it may be a few weeks until the next update. **_

_**Later today, I should hopefully have a new shorter story posted for all of you. I won't lie, I'm a little stuck on a few of my stories. So I'll post a short story I've had in my had for a while. **_

_**Thanks for reading,**_

_**Alicia Marie**_


	9. Chapter 9

**_None of these Scooby characters are mine. They are a creation of Hanna Barbara._**

**_I'm just using them for my sick and messed up stories.  
Also, I'm using some of the stuff the movies and cartoons all had, but some stuff is majorly different._**

_**PSST- wow this story is actually just flowing from my brain. Woot. **_

Daphne turned, rushing back into her room. She heard running footsteps coming from down the hall and up the stairs, but froze at the sight that met her. Mason was holding a gun, while Linda was holding Lyra.

"Linda? Mason?" Daphne asked. "What are you-?"

"You're going to come with us." Mason said.

The others appeared in the doorway at that second. Mason grabbed Daphne's arm and pulled her to him, holding the gun against Daphne's back.

"She's coming with us, you guys won't be following." Mason said.

"You can't just walk out of here-" Fred said.

Mason took the gun, shooting it at the door next to Fred's head.

"We're going to go, she'll come with us. We'll tell you where their bodies are. Call the cops, they'll be dead faster." Mason said. Linda had picked up Lyra's bag, pushing past the gang. Mason followed, shoving Daphne ahead of him.

* * *

Sticks and rocks were digging into her barefeet as Mason and Linda forced her through the woods. Her knee length nightgown flapped slightly against her legs in the breeze, and she could still feel the gun pressed into her back.

She could barely see the moon overhead through the thickness of the trees, but once they reached their destination she saw it was full. They had reached a clearing where a small fire burned.

Daphne was forced to her knees uncomfortably close to the fire, with Mason's gun pressed against her head.

"Do you realise what we went through?" Linda asked, clutching Lyra. "You kids got my husband arrested. Do you know how hard it is to live a life normally when your husband is in prison?"

"Your husband? You-"

"I was married to Darius Leech. Mason is Thomas Greenway's son. We would have been rich with that smuggling business. Our families were torn apart, and now it's your turn." Linda said. "Mason wrote the letters, we used D.L for my husband's name. You kids may have figured out Greenway's too quickly. That damned Jones kid had to come looking for you before we could finish what we planned."

"Planned?" Daphne asked, trembling.

"I was to handle Lyra, Mason would handle you. Mystery Inc would never know what happened, except you'd be dead." Linda said. "It's a shame they'll only be able to find your bodies, we were looking forward to being able to brag to them about the whole ordeal. We were planning to hide the bodies at first, but what fun is that now?"

"But we never killed anyone! Lyra's just a baby, please-" Daphne pleaded.

"Shut up." Mason demanded. He grabbed her hair, pushing her face closer to the fire. Her skin was becoming unbearably hot. She realised he had loosened his grip on the gun, and made her move. She threw her elbow back, catching him in the groin. He dropped the gun, crying out in anger and pain.

She turned, grabbing the gun and pointing it at Linda. "Hand her over." Daphne demanded.

Mason grabbed her ankle, pulling her down. She fought him off, hitting him hard across the head with the gun. He crumpled, and she shot at Linda's leg.

Linda screamed, and Daphne grabbed Lyra before she was dropped. She wasn't even sure that Linda had been hit, or if she had just been taken by surprise. Daphne took off through the woods, ignoring the pain of the sticks under her feet. She clutched Lyra tightly, not knowing where she was going. She could be going in circles for all she knew.

Her feet hit cement and she realised she was on a road. Lyra was crying now, and Daphne became aware of her own tears. She looked both ways- she didn't know which way to go.

One direction led to a curve in the road, the other was a completely straight road. There were no lights in sight and she felt panicked. Which way was town? Which way should she go?

She heard rustling behind her, and started to run towards the bend in the road. She heard swearing behind her and knew that one of them would catch up with her. She turned, running back into the woods. She didn't know how long she had been running before her feet hit pavement again. She found herself in bright headlights, and the driver laid on the horn. She turned, shielding Lyra with her body, bracing for impact.

* * *

"How do we know they went this way?" Velma asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"If you were going to murder someone, this is the most remote part of town." Fred pointed out. Velma, Scooby and Shaggy frowned at Fred as Fred shrugged it off.

Something jumped out onto the road in front of them, Fred slammed onto the brakes and horn at the same time. The van stopped just short of hitting the object. To Fred's relief, he saw it was Daphne clutching Lyra. He jumped out of the van.

"Daph!" He said, running to her. "Are you okay?"

"Fred, thank God!" She cried, throwing herself and Lyra into his arms.

"Guys! Move!" Velma shrieked, jumping from the van.

A gunshot rang out.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. haha**_

Hello readers!

I regret to inform you that I will be taking a break from my stories. I have major health issues to handle right now, and as soon as I take care of that, I will be back to updating (hopefully!). My laptop is also on its last hing(literally!) and I'm looking to replace it soon enough.

As soon as I handle my health and replace my laptop, I will be back. In meantime, I do have a deviantArt where I'll be trying to upload some artwork of mine(sort of a therapy for me). I have 3 pieces so far, but I am working on more. If you'd like to look me up over there, my user is AliciaMarieL(same as here).

I promise to return as soon as I am able!

XO

Alicia Marie


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